Cedar Rapids Man Sentenced For Providing A Gun To A Felon

A man who provided a gun to a felon was sentenced November 25, 2013, to more than three years in federal prison.

Demetrius Hardiman, age 19, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after an August 6, 2013, guilty plea to one count of transferring a firearm to a prohibited person.

At the plea hearing, Hardiman admitted that on May 8, 2013, he knowingly gave a gun to his brother, a convicted felon who was prohibited from possessing firearms. Cedar Rapids Police Officers encountered Hardiman and his brother at 1:15 a.m. and discovered that Hardiman=s brother, a felon, unlawfully possessed a cocked and loaded 9mm handgun. Hardiman told officers that he stole the gun the year before and had his brother carry the gun that night for protection. Hardiman had been breaking into unlocked cars that night and intended to use the gun if confronted by the cars’ owners.

Hardiman was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. Hardiman was sentenced to 41 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

Hardiman is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a cooperative local, state and federal program aimed at the enhanced prosecution of gun crimes. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and was investigated by the Cedar Rapids Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.